Cons:

Daggerfall, released back in 1996, was one of the most ambitious games ever made. The second chapter of the Elder Scrolls saga, Daggerfall's open-ended gameplay, random dungeons, and multitude of major and minor quests made role-playing fans cheer with delight. However, its sub-par graphics, even for its day, combined with an inexcusable number of bugs ruined the experience for some gamers. Even today, six years later, the word Daggerfall causes debate in role-playing circles. You loved it, hated it, or wanted to love it but couldn't play without it crashing.

This brings us to the third game in the series. It would be simple to say that this is the game Daggerfall should have been, but in truth that's not fair. Morrowind is better in many, many ways -- graphics, focus, design, gameplay -- in most respects Morrowind is superior to its predecessor. 1996 could not have produced a game like this.

A Small Fish in a Huge Pond

Morrowind is an absolutely enormous game. In fact, before buying it, you need to be prepared to put a lot of hours into it; this is not the kind of game you can finish in a weekend.

The game's open-ended style of play encourages a lot of exploring and experimentation. For example, the game starts off in the southern hamlet of Seyda Neen on the island of Vvardenfell inside the province of Morrowind. From there you are given instructions on where to go, but you can spend as much time as you like in Seyda Neen. You can even forego the main plot entirely and hang around the area exploring tombs, doing minor quests, stirring up trouble in another city, or go monster hunting in the woods. The game leaves everything in your lap; you have the option to play it however you wish. And there's so much to do that you could play for weeks without even getting to the main plotline. It's that big.

The main quest is well worth investigating, though; eventually you'll be one of the center figures in a political mess that involves prophecies, an old evil that has returned, a lot of shady characters, and the fate of millions. In other words, it's typical role-playing fare. Not that the story is mundane or even predictable, but it's the standard save the day scenario by killing the bad guys. The amazing part is that once you finish the main quest, the game doesn't "end;" you just become a bigger part of the world, and can go back to exploring all the locales Morrowind has to offer.

All of this freedom and spaciousness comes at a price. There are a lot of locations with which you will become very familiar, and traveling back and forth gets a bit tedious at times. Walking around is a very slow process, and after a while running wherever you go will be second nature -- the drawback being that running drains fatigue, which makes it more difficult in combat. Thankfully, the game offers a variety of ways in which to travel to different cities. Mage guilds offer transportation, for a small price, from one city guild to another. Silt Striders, large beasts that serve like a kind of taxicab can take you to many different locations in the blink of an eye. Learning to use these services is vital to enjoying the game, as walking and running everywhere is an impractical solution.

Nuts and Bolts

This "freedom is good" design philosophy is apparent the moment you begin creating a character. The game gives you three options when creating your persona. You may answer a set of questions, having the game pick your profession based on your answers; you may opt to simply pick your class from the general list (there are a slew of professions at your fingertips from assassin to witch hunter), or create a custom class yourself. It's all up to you. More freedom is given after you choose a class. Want your mage to carry a shield and use a sword? Fine. Want to use a longbow? Go right ahead. A mage can even wear heavy armor. Everything is balanced so that if you want your mage to be a topnotch spell caster with a lot of magic points, he'll most likely not be able to carry all the weight required to wear a lot of armor, but the option is there for you. The mage will also, most likely, not feel very comfortable in heavy armor, which is reflected by a low armor skill rating.

Wandering around can be deadly, especially early in the game.

The advancement system makes so much sense that it makes other games, even games set in the D&D world such as Baldur's Gate, look silly by comparison. If you want to boost your skill with a bow, you need to use that weapon or find someone to train you in its use. All skills need to be practiced or put into use before they may be improved upon. Just because you gain a level, doesn't mean you can boost a skill that you never, ever use. Gaining levels allows you to boost your main attributes (speed, strength, etc.) but not skills. As your skills increase in power, they take longer to improve. If you are terrible with a short sword, it doesn't take too long for your skill level to rise if you are consistently using one. Become better with it, and the level of progression slows considerably.

If you need more customization you can create your own spells (if you find a teacher) or enchant regular items with magical properties.